Individual Details

Jenny Lea Sloan Stanley, age 91, departed this life on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 to a new and joyful life eternal with her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. She left us peacefully at her home in Breckenridge, Texas after a long illness. Jenny was born in Breckenridge, Texas to parents, Ross and Lafon Sloan, on September 19, 1921. Her father, Ross, was the grandson of Samuel Sloan, an early Stephens County pioneer. Samuel came to Texas in February of 1836 and joined the Texas Army of Independence under General Sam Houston. He eventually brought his family to Texas and, in 1846, built one of the first homes in Dallas County on land received as bounty in 1838 from the State of Texas for his service in the Texas Army. In 1876, Samuel moved his family to Stephens County and built a home on the banks of the Clear Fork River near current day Crystal Falls. The house and surrounding acreage came to be known as the "Sloan River Place," and it was there that Jenny's father, Ross, was born. Ross, an "old school" rancher and loving father and grandfather, amassed ranches in Stephens, Shackelford, Throckmorton and Haskell Counties and remained active in the ranching business throughout his life. Jenny graduated in 1938 from Breckenridge High School at the age of 16. An avid tennis player and fan, she earned a trip to the State 3A tournament in the Spring of that year. Throughout her life, she encouraged and mentored young people who were interested in tennis, and she has sponsored the Jenny Sloan Stanley Tennis Award at Breckenridge High School for the outstanding Buckaroo tennis player for many years. After high school, she attended Christian College in Columbia, Missouri and roomed there with her good friend, Marianna Green Musselman, from Albany, Texas. Jenny met Carl B. Everett, Jr., a cadet at Kemper Military Academy, while she was attending Christian College. Carl and Jenny both transferred to Southern Methodist University, and the two eloped on May 30, 1941. Only a short seven months later after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Carl enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the 90th Infantry Division throughout WWII. Jenny and Carl had three children: Julie born in 1943, Carl III born in 1947, and Jim born in 1950. Jenny made a wonderful home for her children, and she was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. The joy of her life was her family, and she worked hard, never doing anything half-way, to make her home a secure place of love, laughter and faith in God. In 1953, the Lord sent her some much needed help, Orline Love. Orline worked for Jenny for almost 40 years and was not only a loyal employee but also a dear and trusted friend. Orline was loved as much as any family member, and she was a woman of great faith in God from whom the entire family drew strength. Teaching at home, Jenny instilled in her children at an early age a strong faith in God. She loved her church, First United Methodist Church, and taught Sunday School there for 35 years, most of that time in the high school class. She was truly a gifted teacher and personally mentored and encouraged many of her students during those years. Many of them have thanked her through the years for the impact she had on their lives. In 1997, First United Methodist Church, along with her children, honored Jenny with a plaque recognizing her for 35 years of teaching Sunday School and her service to the Lord in many areas of church life, including directing Christmas pageants with Calva Holland, serving on the church board and building committee which built the new sanctuary in 1966, and serving as a trustee. Since that time, the plaque and her portrait have been placed in the Ward Scott Sloan Memorial Chapel where she taught the high school class. Jenny loved people, and she loved feeding them, especially her family. Three daily home-cooked meals at the table were the rule rather than the exception, and she continually expressed her love in many other ways of giving of her time and energy. She was always there to support her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in any endeavor in which they might be involved. She especially enjoyed visiting her granddaughters at Camp Waldemar in the "Hill Country" each summer, and she always made Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and birthdays so special. Jenny loved giving, and she personally bought and wrapped so many presents around the tree at Christmas each year for her family that you could hardly get into her living room to open them. Jenny loved life, and she lived her life to the fullest. She enjoyed fishing, hunting for arrowheads, skipping rocks at the river, weenie roasts, bringing lunch to hungry cowboys, visiting the Menger Hotel and the Alamo in San Antonio, good music, dancing, Russell Stover candy, a cold bottled Coca-Cola, John Wayne, the wondrous beauty of God's creation, watching the birds bathe in her bird bath, watching tennis, cheering for her grandchildren, collecting Native American artifacts and jewelry, and a trip to Santa Fe, anytime! She lived an exceptional life. This was never more evident than in the unique, one-of-a-kind quilts she created. She learned quilting and embroidery from her mother, Lafon, but Jenny took it to a new level. She crafted beautiful butterfly and bird quilts, "painting" with needle and thread, and she spent weeks and months on each scene, resulting in first prize blue ribbons at the Texas State Fair in 1963 and 1964. She followed these quilts with a southwestern wildlife quilt and a magnificent fairy tale quilt taken from a favorite childhood fairy tale book, "Once Upon a Time." Each of these quilts won the coveted grand prize, "Best of Show" award, at the Texas State Fair in 1965 and 1972, and they took over three years each to make. These quilts are truly unequaled works of art, a work of her heart, and cherished heirlooms. They testify of the quality of her life and the love and devotion she had for her children. They testify of her exceptional life. Jenny was a woman of strong convictions and a deep sense of right and wrong. No attempt at recalling her life would be complete without mentioning this about her. She was an independent thinker who answered only to her God, her own heart and her conscience. Her life was also characterized by encouraging and, at times, counseling others. She was gifted at clarifying a problem and giving counsel to correct it, which resulted in renewed confidence and optimism of overcoming the problem by the listener. Truly, she was a one-woman pep squad and sage advisor for her family. Jenny was the nurturing and protective love of God poured out on her family in this life – the very essence and embodiment, the heart and soul of the word "mother." Giving us her all, and continually pouring her love out on us, she never stopped thinking of our welfare first, ahead of her own, until she was gone. She set the bar high for all of us: to live for God, to live for and forgive others, to live exceptionally, never compromising your best effort, always standing up for what you believe is right, and to live a sacrificial life serving, loving and encouraging others. She was, and is, simply the best. "Thank you, Mother. Your children rise up and call you blessed." Jesus said, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" John 11:25-26 Jenny is survived by her three children: Julie Sloan Watson of Dallas, Carl B. Everett III and wife, Pat, of Breckenridge, and James Sloan Everett Sr. and wife, Teresa, also of Breckenridge. She is survived by twelve grandchildren: Laura Everett Gibson and her husband, Grant, of Round Rock; Julie Anna Reaugh and her husband, Graham, of Breckenridge; Amy Everett Carter and her husband, Daragh, of Houston; Sarah Everett Fowler and her husband, Jason, of Fort Worth; David Howell Watson of Dallas; James Sloan Everett Jr. and his wife, Liesl, of Breckenridge; Katharine Everett Meuli and her husband, Toby, of Los Angeles, California; Diana Sloan Brosseau and her husband, Danny, of Dallas; Jenny Scott Everett of Gulfport, Mississippi; Caroline Everett Jurgensen and her husband, Luke, of Carrollton; Elizabeth Ann Everett of Nashville, Tennessee; and Rebecca Lafon Everett of Plano. She is also survived by ten great-grandchildren: Everett Gibson, Emory Gibson, Davis Gibson, Anna Reaugh, Merce Carter, Elizabeth Carter, Dara Kate Carter, Hubbard Fowler, and Esther Fowler. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ross and Lafon Sloan; a brother, Sam Ross Sloan Jr. and wife, Mary Katherine Sloan; an aunt, Lillie Bell Thompson; and a nephew, Ward Scott Sloan. A celebration of the life of Jenny Lea Sloan Stanley will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 419 W. Walker Street, Breckenridge, Texas on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. A visitation and celebration meal will follow in the Christian Life Center of First United Methodist Church. All are welcome. The service will be officiated by Reverend Cal Hoffman and directed by Melton-Kitchens Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be grandsons: James Sloan Everett, Jr. and David Howell Watson, and grandsons-in-law: Grant Gibson, Graham Reaugh, Daragh Carter, Toby Meuli, Jason Fowler, Luke Jurgensen and Danny Brosseau. Honorary pallbearers will be Cy Barcus, Tom Smith, Randy Black, Parks Sloan, Sam Ross Sloan III, Chaunce Thompson, Ira Sloan Thompson, J.M. Mercer Jr., Dewey Woodward and L.C. Deubler. The family wishes to thank Chaplains Burt Williams and Mike Bailey of Hospice of the Big Country and all of the hospice nurses, including Sheila, Joann and Nelda, for their loving and faithful care and kindness to Jenny. The family especially wants to thank and express love to their dedicated "crew" of loving and devoted caregivers, for whom they will be forever grateful: Carissa McCullough, Amelia Moreno, Deanna Post, Bridget Cortez, Kathy Taylor, Brandee Hughins, and Robin Abney. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the First United Methodist Church of Breckenridge or the Building Fund at First Baptist Church of Breckenridge. Online condolences may be posted at www.meltonkitchens.com.

Birth	19 Sep 1921	Breckenridge, Stephens County, Texas
Marriage	30 May 1941	Carl Bussey Everett Jr.
Death	14 Aug 2013	Breckenridge, Stephens County, Texas

Spouse	Carl Bussey Everett Jr. (1919 - 1997)
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living